With the possibility of Tuner University coming back, I wanted to give you a special Performance Package deal on pretty much all of our premium courses to date - as a thanks for showing your support for Tuner University and the information shared here:

Get all of the above courses (many of which not currently available anywhere else) for one single price of just $309.75 $69.95. You can also buy any of these individually through our resource center, but I don't know why you would as this is basically the whole store for the price of just 1 course. You'll get the MP3 recordings of each class as well as a transcript or companion manual with each course and you'll be able to download them all INSTANTLY. This is a digitally delivered product.

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Today we're going to look at the 8th generation civic, specifically the R18 powered Ex model. We're going to take a look at the restriction currently being caused by the stock intake system and measure it exactly.

The R18 as you probably know is a 140hp power plant that is extremely fuel efficient but lacks some sense of urgency, especially when overtaking on the highway. Part throttle performance seems immediate, but it's simply a trick that Honda is playing. Push the throttle down a little further and you'll find that there's not a lot of extra umph left to give.

So I've talked before about how you measure intake restriction and how you can actually find the source of restriction by using a differential pressure meter. However, while I've alluded to the fact that you can also do something similar for exhaust back pressure, I haven't done anything about it until now.

Today I want to share with you how you can analyze an existing (or aftermarket) exhaust system using a very inexpensive gauge, some tubing, a spark plug defouler, some jb weld and a fitting from your local home hardware store. It's like tuner MacGyver, but trust me, it works great.

The grand total of the project might run as much as $40-60 or so but you probably have most of what you need lying around.

Most enthusiasts know that reducing backpressure in the exhaust system will typically yield a performance gain. However, there is much speculation about what exactly makes a big difference and what does not. Sure, a bigger pipe will almost always reduce backpressure as will a higher flow muffler with either a straight through or significantly less baffled design.

Nitrous, or Nitrous Oxide is a power adder that provides incredible "Bang for the Buck" but for a number of reasons that we'll explore today, almost never gets used, and that's a shame because there's really no better way to get a reasonable boost in power for peanuts.

Nitrous has a bad reputation for blowing up engines and is often even called "cheating." Additionally, it gets a bad rap for not being "always available" and for needing refills to keep the power going.

All of these rumors have some basis in fact but as with almost anything, when used correctly, the benefits of nitrous are HUGE, especially for the target audience of this site: daily driven performance enthusiasts.

When we talk about adding horsepower, what we're really talking about is adding torque (which is a measurement of power whereas horsepower is a measurement of power over a period of time). More specifically, we're usually talking about adding volumetric efficiency. In other words, if you want more torque at any given engine speed, all you need to do is increase the amount of air and fuel being burnt with each stroke at that speed. More horsepower naturally comes from adding more torque at higher and higher RPMs.

So let's dive in with the #1 modification you can do to really change the handling performance of your vehicle:

Fitting stickier tires will always improve grip and track times at the expense of fuel economy. The downside to these sticky tires is that they don't work well if they're not warm so all-season performance is out. You also have to balance the operating conditions with the size of the tire as if the tire is too wide, it may not get up to temperature quickly, too narrow and the tire may actually get too hot and get "greasy" or fail prematurely. Sticky tires also increase rolling resistance which affects fuel economy negatively (by up to 1-2%) and because they're soft they also wear out VERY fast. However, nothing will improve the overall performance of your car like a great set of performance tires so don't skimp on this if your goal is all-out performance. See related articles at bottom of this post for further reading. Continue reading →

Posted inBraking & Handling|Comments Off on Modifications That Work Every Time: Suspension

Continuing from part I, today I have a few more of the ways that you can increase horsepower in your car without being subject to the gimmick tax. In other words, these are the tried and true methods that work every time. If it's not on this list (or the list in Part I), it probably isn't a great investment of hard earned dollars.

Fitting a supercharger or turbocharger will always net a huge improvement in power production. Truthfully, of all modifications, this is the only one that can take a stock engineed car to another world of performance. While all motor modifications can net a healthy 10-20% gain over factory in a street car, turbocharger applications and superchargers as well both start well over 30% and climb to 100-200% with minimal effort. Continue reading →

Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Modifications that Work (Part II): Engine

The other day I ran across a useful table in a very old and rare book on Air Conditioner design of all things. You may never have thought about it, but air conditioner ducts need to be relatively well flowing as well to minimize the size of the blower needed to get adequate cooling to the final location and in most cases the runs of ducting are VERY long relative to intake or charge piping for a turbo system.

There are several things that add pressure loss (restriction) to any pipe system, for the purposes of this article we'll focus on length and bends. It turns out that bends have the same effect as adding additional length. In other words, if I have two intake ducts that are 5' long but one is straight and the other has a 90 degree bend in it, the one with a 90 degree bend will flow as poorly as a straight pipe with a longer length. Continue reading →

Posted inTU Premium|Comments Off on Pressure/Flow Loss in Pipe Bends: Better to Go Long or Bend?